Innovative Integrated Sustainability Appraisal Approach for Irrigation Water Distribution Automation: A Combined MCDM-Based Food-Energy-Water Nexus

Abstract This study presents a sustainability performance appraisal framework based on the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus, for the modernizing of irrigation water distribution systems. Customized indicators were developed to construct an integrated Nexus index using multi-criteria decision-making methods, including AHP-Shannon Entropy and SWARA for indicator weighting, and SAW for the FEW-Nexus index. It assesses the impacts of modernization on water and energy conservation through two automated control systems: a decentralized Proportional-Integral (PI) system and a centralized Model Predictive Control (MPC) system. Two scenarios were analyzed: normal and water shortage (WS), which served as the boundary conditions for the hydraulic simulation models. The framework was applied to an irrigation district in Iran, delineated into 459 independent units in an 800-hectare grid for spatial assessment. FEW indicators and the integrated nexus index were analyzed per unit. Spatial analysis showed that automatic PI/MPC systems improved metrics in normal-WS scenarios, with surface water delivery increasing by 19 − 14%/14–28%. Surface Water productivity rose 21 − 2%/38 − 18%; economic productivity by 2.5-0%/47 − 10%; energy conservation improved 9–29%/21–39%; energy productivity increased 35 − 19%/47 − 27%; energy economic productivity slightly rose 8-0.2%/21 − 0.8%; and food economic productivity increased 6–51%/21 − 11%. Overall, the spatial analysis of the integrated FEW-Nexus index reveals a modest positive impact on water and energy conservation resulting from the automation of the main canal using PI and MPC systems.